From Funnel to Foundation: Building a Donor Loyalty Loop

For decades, the AIDA model has been the bedrock of marketing and sales. Its straightforward, linear path—Attention, Interest, Desire, Action—has been taught in business schools and applied across countless industries. In the nonprofit world, it was adapted to be the quintessential fundraising funnel. You'd grab a potential donor’s Attention with a compelling story, pique their Interest with a specific need, build their Desire to make a difference, and then prompt the final Action: the donation.

But let’s be honest with ourselves, this model is a relic. It’s a transactional framework built for a different era. For you, the experienced fundraiser, it feels incomplete because it’s a one-and-one process. "AIDA is fundamentally flawed for philanthropy," says Dr. Amelia Vance, a leading expert on donor psychology. "It views the donation as the finish line, when in reality, it's just the starting gun for the real relationship." The model neglects the most critical part of the process: what happens after the donation.

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